Do not write a GPA addendum that says that your grades sucked for a year because you were drunk and/or high. If you do not have a legitimate medical/family/switching majors (maybe) reason, then do not write an addendum. Don't worry though, they don't really do much.

Question: how low would a GPA have to be to qualify for an addendum? I have what would probably qualify as a legitimate reason, but never went below a 3.0, though improved every semester of my college career thsufar. I will be submitting a 3.5X, where X is a number less than or equal to 3, for clarification.

bbalcrzy23 wrote:Do you think I should submit this GPA addendum? Thanks for your help.

My high school program was very rigorous so I was well prepared for college. I was attending all my classes and doing very well. However, starting with the Fall 2005 semester, I started skipping a lot of classes. I was living in a fraternity house and became very distracted. I actually still did very well on my exams but I was missing in-class assignments, quizzes, and homework. After my Fall 2006 semester, I decided to move out of the fraternity house and recapture my focus. I started attending every single class and my grades jumped drastically.

This addendum would probably hurt you — better to just let them see the GPA with no explanation than to see you say that you couldn't handle distractions.

Bad idea mainly because it hurts your overall application by demonstrating immaturity, even if this partying phase was something in the past. Even if that's true, it's obviously something you've outgrown, and you don't want any hint of it to show on your application. Certainly, it's good that you realized that and took initiative, but you need to come up with a very different way of wording it if you want an addendum. There are plenty of ways of doing this... otherwise, just let it be. G'luck

Agree with the posters - don't send an addendum if you don't have a good explanation for the drop. (You don't.) In your case, it'd be better to let schools assume that the semester was aberrant from your usual good student ways than to explicitly tell them you blew off school.

PSUdevon wrote:Question: how low would a GPA have to be to qualify for an addendum? I have what would probably qualify as a legitimate reason, but never went below a 3.0, though improved every semester of my college career thsufar. I will be submitting a 3.5X, where X is a number less than or equal to 3, for clarification.

If your transcript shows a steady upward trend, you don't really need to send an addendum. Schools will assume that your grades improved with increased familiarity with college, more self-confidence & focus, etc. Leave it at that. (Now, if you have a personal compelling reason for the rocky start, like your parents died and you had to take care of your siblings, you could turn that into a great personal statement.)

PSUdevon wrote:Question: how low would a GPA have to be to qualify for an addendum? I have what would probably qualify as a legitimate reason, but never went below a 3.0, though improved every semester of my college career thsufar. I will be submitting a 3.5X, where X is a number less than or equal to 3, for clarification.

It all depends on the reason and the grade breakdown. I had a really high cumulative GPA but included an addendum because of horrific (and completely abnormal) grades one semester just to preemptively answer any questions the reader might have. Without knowing the reason or how exactly it affected your grades, it'd be difficult to give you advice. It's always a judgment call, though.

Dany wrote: just to preemptively answer any questions the reader might have.

That's the role of an addendum. If you have a good answer to a question someone would have while looking at your application package, give them that answer (as long as it demonstrates that the problem will be resolved by the time of your law school enrollment).